New Zealand Mall Uses Manilow to Scare Teens

After successful tests in Australia, Barry Manilow's music is being used to disperse unruly youths in New Zealand.

Across the central mall district, hordes of teenagers do what teenagers do best: get wasted, scream at passersby and generally make a nuisance of themselves. So Christchurch is now letting the "man who made the whole world sing" do exactly that, by piping his music through the area. The police feel certain that the constant crooning will send teens packing.

Central City Business Association manager Paul Lonsdale told Associated Press: "The intention is to change the environment in a positive way... so nobody feels threatened or intimidated. I did not say Barry Manilow is a weapon of mass destruction."

An amusing enough plan, but it seems likely that teens will fight back by blasting something even more obnoxious - say, The Jonas Brothers - back at Barry, but that'll just give the Police an excuse to arrest them "somewhere down the road" under the city's anti-noise law.